No, it is not a actual wildcat call, it is a term some have given it by what they heard a turkey making. Some refered to it as screeching sounds in a roost tree. (no not owls) They said turkeys were in the tree.

Now back to the subject,....yes, Earl, I had heard of the "wildcat" call, and had read the descriptions from books and articles I saw over the years. There were a couple of times over the years that I heard sounds that I thought were from turkeys that I thought might have fit the vague descriptions, but this last spring I think I actually heard gobblers making the call on the roost.....not just once or twice, but many times from many different gobblers.

I had sneaked (snuck?) into an area before daylight, high up on a pine and fir covered ridge, that I had heard gobbling from the evening before, and as luck would have it, I ended up right in the middle of a bunch of turkeys on the roost. As it began to get light, I started hearing this sound, one after another, from several trees around me. At first I thought it was a couple of owls that were moving from tree to tree, but I had never heard owls sounding just that way before. Then I began to notice that there was gobbling coming from the same locations in between the owling sounds. This went on for a good, long while, with the frequency of the call increasing as it neared flydown time for the flock, which consisted of several mature gobblers, a gang of jakes, and a number of hens.

I remember thinking at the time that this must be the "mythical" wildcat call, and I made a conscious effort to try to listen carefully to the sound, with every intent to try to reproduce it later. Unfortunately, now months later, the only description of it I can muster is that it was similar, but different, to an owling sound with a sort of purr added into it. I would immediately recognize it if I heard it again, I think, but that does little good here in this discussion. Heck, it may not have been the wildcat call at all, but it was definitely gobblers making a noise that I would say fits the descriptions I have seen.

I will be going back there again this spring, since I know there will be gobblers there...always are. In fact, there may be the same number that were there that morning....(does that tell you just how my hunt went on that morning?!....but that's a story for another time!). I hope I will be blessed with another morning just like that one was...lots of gobbling and wildcat calls....and maybe a slightly different outcome.

I have heard this call only four times in many years of hunting.
It will be made by gobblers only and each time I heard it was just before first light.
I do know that if you are very close to the bird when he hits the ground and you
give him one or two coarse cluks you better have your gun up.
As to what it means in turkey vocabulary I do not know but it sure sounds similar to
a cat scream.
Hopefully someone on the site will have some input on it as it is rare to hear it mentioned.